THERE is an urgent need for warehouse managers to reduce expenditure in order to advance business interests, especially during tough times, such as reviewing total costs and doing away with wastages and implementing certain initiatives.

A company’s business targets and trends in the industry may be gauged by reviewing total costs for the last three to five years, said Dr Kanak Madrecha, practice head of DP World Business Excellence Centre.

Warehouse managers and operators must also gauge the procurement, warehousing and distribution costs against the global benchmarks, and assess and review the effectiveness of certain initiatives.

Madrecha was one of the speakers in a Dubai forum organised by Marcus Evans towards the end of June. Dubbed ‘Warehouse Management Excellence’, the forum stressed the importance of warehouse management, owing to the convergence of economic and technological forces.

“The responsibility of warehousing grew from simply putting a roof over goods to the science of controlling the optimal flow of goods, energy, and the information through the forecasting, planning and transportation management,” said Marcus Evans, a global producer of strategic business conferences.

Madrecha stressed the importance of the supply-chain and logistics sector, saying that domestic sectors account for a big chunk of their respective countries’ gross domestic product.

The cost of logistics in the UAE and the wider Gulf region, for instance, is between 10% and 15% of GDP while that in China is 22.3% and, in the US, 10.1% or $1.4 trillion as at 2007.

Sukumar Narashimhan, senior vice-president for supply-chain management at Reliance Group India, urged companies to go back to basics by controlling costs and reducing production wastages.

He stressed the need for having insurance, and the implementation of various security measures, saying that a warehouse is a workplace with risks to safety operations.

The chief technology officer of eTechnoforte Dubai, Yogesh Pathak, urged warehouse operators to find out the best forecasting models to help improve their business.

“Companies that keep on improving,” said Andrew Cheah, senior advisor to Lean Advisors International, a strategic consultancy based in North America, “will be better off after the crisis.”

DUCAB, emcredit and UTi have joined the Supply Chain and Logistics Group.

Ducab has won a number of awards since its establishment in 1979, the latest of which is the ‘Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Business Excellence 2008 – Manufacturing Sector’.





EMCREDIT is the UAE’s first credit bureau, and was incorporated in January 2006 under the directive of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. It is a fully-owned subsidiary of Dubai’s Department of Economic Development, and operates in line with the Data Protection Law of the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Through its data sharing with several government departments, Emcredit provides a range of comprehensive, accurate and industry-focused credit information solutions. This initiative will enable members to gain greater perspective into the risk profiles of their customers, thereby empowering them in making informed business decisions.

FOUNDED in 1926, UTi has become a broad-based, information-focused company offering a wide range of global integrated logistics to a customer base that stretches worldwide. Today, major regional and international companies take advantage of UTi’s enhanced warehousing and transportation services, including air, ocean and ground. The company also offers manufacturing support, freight forwarding, customs brokerage and contract logistics, among other services.

UTi employs over 17,000 associates worldwide. For more information, please visit www.go2uti.com.        

FROM mobile payments to passport authentication and baggage handling to product tracking, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags have proven themselves more than their value’s worth. No wonder that, in the face of the global financial meltdown where some industries contract by more than 50%, the global RFID market is rising five per cent this year to $5.56 billion, according to Raghu Das, chief executive officer of the UK-based IDTechEx.

The technology allows UAE consumers to enjoy chilled and frozen food transported from halfway around the world without fear of food poisoning. It allows the consumer to have real-time access to information regarding the location, condition and temperature of the product at any point of its transit—from its place of origin to its destination.

“The transport of potentially hazardous refrigerated foods should require temperature recorders to verify proper refrigerated temperatures are maintained when food is in transit,” said Chris Weiner, general manager of Dubai-based ArabIT, a certified service provider of advanced telemetry fleet management system produced by Telargo, of the US. “These recorders can also be one of the criteria for end-users accepting or rejecting a load.”

Through sensors imbedded inside and outside the vehicles, the system can track and monitor food transport vehicles 24/7, including food storage compartment temperatures, and when storage doors are opened and closed and for how long. The sensors emit an alarm when the temperature fluctuates beyond allowed limits.

The proper monitoring of food transport will ensure that the “public would be safer from the danger of food poisoning”, Weiner said. “Food control authorities would have a reliable inspection system, which can be incorporated into licensing requirements; and food outlets would be more secure in the knowledge that hygiene standards had been maintained during transport.”

RFID technology also has a very significant value for inventory systems. It provides an accurate knowledge of the current inventory, ensuring timely information on the status of warehouse stocks. Its use can reduce labour costs, simplify business processes, reduce inventory inaccuracies due to human error and eliminate pilferage losses.

In 2004, Boeing implemented the use of RFID tags to help reduce maintenance and inventory costs on its 787 Dreamliner. With the high costs of aircraft parts, RFID technology allowed Boeing to keep track of inventory despite the unique sizes, shapes and environmental concerns. During the first six months after integration, the company reportedly was able to save $29,000 in labour costs alone.

DURING tough times, successful brands should go back to their roots and do what they are best at. “Many brands have a long history of success and experience but, at the same time, in their quest for new businesses, they over-expand or do other things away from their real strengths,” says Ishwar Chugani. “This is where the focus on what the brand stands for diminishes.”

The affable executive-director of Giordano Fashions in the Middle East becomes animated when he begins talking about the art of retailing. Quoting from the father of Taoism, Lao-Tzu, Chugani cherishes the idea that people get to respect someone who is happy just being himself, and does not compete or compare. The competitive world of apparel retailing, however, becomes the leitmotif of his next discourse.

“The world of apparel retailing is incredibly competitive, with customers becoming more and more disillusioned with the various lines, styles and brands available,” he says. “To be successful, the retail offering should be relevant, functional and affordable. Customers don’t buy from a company; they buy regularly from someone they can trust, someone knowledgeable, someone who delivers what is promised.”

Something which his company is known for, says Dubai-based Chugani, stressing it’s the Giordano signature to focus on one’s everyday essentials when it comes to apparel. The company, for instance, created linen and soft-cotton clothing to help customers deal with the searing heat this summer. Besides having designs in pastel, Giordano also has a collection of solid, striped and checked linen shirts in white, corn and aqua, among other ready-to-wear clothing.

With 204 stores in the Gulf region and India, 43 of which are in the UAE, Giordano already surpassed its earlier goal of having 200 stores in the Gulf Arab states and the world’s second-most populous nation by 2010. It has 2,000 stores worldwide. “We will continue to grow,” Chugani says, as Giordano Middle East plans to invest $20 million for new stores over the next three years. There will be 250 Giordano outlets in the Gulf and India by 2012.

Born to Indian parents living in the Philippines, Chugani was educated in Management at Manila’s elite De La Salle University. In 1979, he joined the ETA Ascon Star Group, which later on forged a joint venture with Hong Kong-based Giordano International to put up Giordano Middle East. A UAE-based conglomerate with interests in construction and real estate, trading, shipping and retail, among other industries, ETA Star first hired Chugani to launch Sinbad’s Wonderland at Al Ghurair.

While pioneering the region’s amusement industry in Dubai, a provincial town that transformed into a highly-commercialised city, Chugani was indulging himself in his favourite sport and pastime – playing darts. He started winning darting competitions, and became the champion of the UAE in 1984 and the Abu Dhabi Open in 1990.

Having got a good training in darting way back in Manila, all that Chugani had to do was looked back to the time when he honed his ‘bull’s-eye’ skills with showbiz personalities who were also regulars in the pub he used to frequent. To this day, Chugani still has his favourite dart board he had used in the Philippines.

And just like his way with darting, Chugani says retailers may just have to look back in their past experiences to be able to know what actions to take during difficult times. “This makes us review our business operation,” he stresses. Trimming production costs and cutting wastage, reducing inventory and streamlining operations are the three basic things that a retailer should do, especially amidst the global financial downturn. “In other words,” Chugani says, “Go back to the basics.”

DUBAI has begun introducing Islamic financial products and services to Australia, following the growth and worldwide interest in Shariah-compliant financing.

Engr Saed Al Awadi, chief executive officer of the Dubai Export Development Corporation (EDC), said Canberra has sought to implement changes in some states, such as Victoria, to incorporate Islamic products in their regulatory systems.

Australia is the first destination for EDC’s ‘Islamic Financial Services Mission’, a government initiative tasked to introduce financial products and services from the UAE to the outside world.

Al Awadi described the mission as a “perfect platform” not only to influence changes in Australia’s regulatory, tax and accounting systems, but also to promote Dubai as a world-class financial centre.

In association with the Australian Trade Commission, or Austrade, the Dubai mission stressed the importance of Islamic banking, one of the recent segments in global financial services. Both parties started the mission’s first leg on June 22-26.

Islamic banking has grown into a global industry with $700 billion worth of assets from 1975, when the first Shariah-compliant bank was established. The sector involves 300 financial institutions across 75 countries.

A number of countries are now considering changing their regulatory systems to incorporate Islamic financial institutions, Al Awadi said, and treat these on a par with conventional financial firms.

He added that the mission to Australia also hopes to educate participants from the UAE with regard to the change in legislation in the host-government, thereby allowing them to develop appropriate export plans.

The first mission included representatives from Islamic banks, asset and investment management sector and insurance. “Our aim was to take one from each field to become a representative, and help us educate others in this sector,” Al Awadi said. “We plan to take a much larger delegation later in the year.”

Noting that a similar mission has been identified for Germany, he remarked, “EDC is constantly monitoring global markets in behalf of companies in the Emirates.”

MIDDLE East’s Aramex has enhanced its operational flexibility and cost-efficiency for express services, as it tapped Air Arabia’s cargo facility at Sharjah International Airport to operate a sorting hub for express shipments.

Aramex’s cargo agreement with the region’s leading low-cost carrier covers the Middle East, Africa, the Indian subcontinent and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

This allows Aramex the speedy recovery of courier shipments, and enables it to provide outstanding interregional connectivity and reliability to its express customers across key emerging markets by utilising the extensive network and cost-efficiency of Air Arabia.

Osama Fattaleh, chief operating officer of Aramex, hailed the accord as “in line with Aramex’s strategic focus on enriching its service offering to customers by mobilising express consignments in the most competitive transit time and at reduced costs”.

The agreement fits right into the thrust of Air Arabia to expand its cargo operations and increase its ancillary services. The airline sees the agreement as a validation of its “exceptional connectivity and our steadfast service in handling and delivering express cargo”.

Air Arabia is proud to have a global leader in express delivery solutions as a partner because it bolsters the airline’s presence in the cargo service sector. It assures Aramex express customers that, with the joint resources and expertise of both companies, they can deliver enhanced quality and reliability.

Its partnership with Air Arabia enables Aramex to provide independent German courier companies with direct access to an independent network throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

It realises that there is a great potential in business from Germany to the Middle East. To maximise the potential of the German market, Aramex recently opened three new offices in Germany located at Frankfurt, Hamburg and Cologne.

ABU Dhabi is fast-asserting its place in the world of aviation, dominating the recent air show in Europe in terms of aircraft purchases, and is planning to manufacture commercial aircraft within seven years.

Aviation companies based in the UAE capital placed nearly two- thirds of the total orders at the Paris Air Show, which witnessed the signing of over $20 billion of deals during its first three days.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Airports and president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, meanwhile, reaffirmed Dubai’s commitment to pursue development plans in the aviation sector, despite hard times.

“These are challenging times for aviation,” he said in a statement. “Passenger and cargo traffic has dropped off dramatically in most parts of the world, leading to billions [of dollars] in industry losses.

The Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) and Germany’s Bavaria Aerospace Cluster also signed an agreement for a world-class aerospace centre in Abu Dhabi’s Al Ain City.

ADAC, together with some government entities and the development and investment firm Mubadala Development Company, would invest $1 billion over the next three years for the project.

Humaid Al Shemmari, Mubadala’s associate director for aerospace, said the company has adopted a long-term strategy with its partners in the aviation industry, alluding to various investments in a number of aerospace companies.

He stressed that Abu Dhabi would be able to fully manufacture its own aircraft by 2016 to 2018. Mubadala’s strategy, he said, is built on the management of long-term, capital intensive investments.

ADAC also forged a joint venture with Helios SinoGulf Property Development to develop a logistics and business park at the free-trade zone of Al Ain International Airport.

The Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies, a Mubadala affiliate, will become the world’s first maintenance, repair and overhaul network provider for GEnx engines, following an agreement between GE Aviation and Mubadala.

Etihad Airways announced a $14-billion engine order last month, and chose GE Aviation, Rolls-Royce, Engine Alliance and International Aero Engines to power its new Airbus and Boeing aircraft that it ordered at the Farnborough Air Show in 2008.

The airline ordered 239 engines, including 19 spares, for $7 billion at list prices with maintenance contracts. This could be the largest engine order in the history of commercial aviation should Etihad exercise all options and purchase rights.

Also at the Paris Air Show, Qatar Airways signed a $1.9-billion contract for 24 Airbus aircraft to help advance its expansion programme, with deliveries to start from November.

The Doha-based airline also ordered $230 million worth of V2500 engines from Rolls-Royce.

CARGO movement at the Abu Dhabi International Airport climbed five per cent in April while passenger traffic jumped 12% compared with the same month last year, as aircraft movement was up five per cent.

The growth in passenger traffic was attributed mainly to the various conferences and exhibitions held in Abu Dhabi, as well as the arrival of Sudan’s Sun Air and the start of daily flights to Melbourne in Australia by Etihad Airways.

“We keep attracting new airlines to the airport which is testament to the quality of services and facilities we provide, as well as the increasing interest in Abu Dhabi as a global business and tourism destination,” said Mohammed Al Bulooki, vice-president of Airline Marketing and Aeronautical Revenue at the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC).

London is Abu Dhabi’s busiest route, followed by Bangkok and Doha while the emirate saw strong growth in the Indian Subcontinent through competitive pricing and high volume workforce traffic.

In a statement, ADAC said traffic to and from India jumped 29.2% in April, followed by the UK with 15.1% and Pakistan at 13.9%. It also enjoyed strong growth in Australia, which became ADAC’s ninth largest market.

Al Bulooki said the third terminal has increased the airport’s capacity, so “we can keep up with the demand and open our doors to more airlines wishing to establish routes to Abu Dhabi in the future”.

THE GLOBAL shipping and logistics group GAC has affirmed its dominance in its sector during the 3rd Middle East Logistics Award (MELA) on June 30.

The award seeks out the best industry practices and the companies which, through their pioneering contributions, made a mark in the region’s logistics sector.

Organised by the Media Group One, the event gathered the leading logistics industry players in the region as they set standards in determining excellent performance among their peers.

Awards for 22 categories were up for grabs. Evaluation of winners was through a two-phase procedure – the nomination and the voting. Horwath MAK conducted the audit of the results and the winners were awarded their prizes in a gala dinner in Dubai.

Dan Hjalmarsson, GAC’s regional director for the Middle East, stated that “the company is honoured to clinch the accolade in the specialised field of perishable logistics where absolute temperature integrity throughout the cold chain is critical in keeping the products safe, viable and fresh”.

He reiterated the importance of a tight supply chain in the region where, during summer, outside temperature can exceed 50 degree Celsius.

“Whether it is moving, handling, transporting or storing the perishable products, GAC has a zero-tolerance philosophy as the margin for error is zero,” he said. “We wish to thank our customers and the voters for recognising our cold chain logistics capability.”

GAC India, meanwhile, has rolled out a series of green initiatives at its Kakinada offshore base, such using biofuel-powered heavy equipment and paints that reduce the release of toxins.

“We aim to cut carbon emissions, and decrease the amount of toxins released into the air and water, without compromising the efficiency or quality of our service,” said Carl Riley, business development manager for offshore services at GAC India.

He said the biofuel is produced locally at the nearby Naturol Refinery, thereby reducing also GAC India’s carbon footprint, while the low volatile organic compound (VOC) paints safeguard the environment and health of workers.

Traditional paints and finishes are among the leading hazards to human health, said the Environmental Protection Agency, as they release low-level toxic emissions into the air for years after application.

DUBAI Festival City, a mixed-use development, was adjudged the ‘Middle East’s Leading Tourist Attraction’ at the World Travel Awards held in Dubai recently.

This brings to four the number of awards won so far this year by the Al Futtaim Group Real Estate development. “This has been a great year for us,” said Tom Miles, director of Shopping Centres at Al Futtaim Real Estate, owner of Festival City

In May, Festival City was voted ‘Retail Destination of the Year’ by the Middle East Awards while it won the 2009 Silver Maxi Award for Marketing in Hollywood. It also clinched the ‘Best Innovation’ award given by the Dubai Shopping Festival earlier this year.

“This recognition encourages us to keep performing even beyond our best levels while continuing to provide our tenants and guests unmatched memorable experiences,” Miles said.

The World Travel Awards celebrates the achievements in all sectors of the global travel industry. The candidates are taken from the previous year’s voting cast by travel agents in over 190 countries.

LEGAL firm DLA Piper won the ‘Sustainable Initiative’ award for its commitment to sustainable environment through various measures, such as reduced business travel and using recycled paper.

“We are committed to reduce our environmental impact and conduct our business in a responsible manner,” said Elaine Kelly, the firm’s regional facilities manager in Dubai.

The firm also has programmes designed to offset carbon emission, purchase items made from sustainable materials and recycle plastic, paper, glass and cartridges.

Given by the Facilities Management Middle East Awards, the latest win follows a week-long campaign in May to reduce energy output in all regional offices of DLA Piper.

Organised by ITP Business Publishing, the ceremony gathered over 200 facilities management professionals across the Middle East, including developers, service providers, contractors and building owners.

GAC Shipping has appointed Clarence Chan as senior marketing manager of shipping services for China, a move which further strengthens its marketing team in the mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

His immediate focus is to maintain customer relationships and consolidate new business for the company. Based in Hong Kong, Chan spearheads GAC’s marketing activity in China’s shipping industry.

“Clarence’s appointment not only recognises his years of local service to GAC, but also highlights GAC Shipping’s commitment to expand its sales and account management resources in China,” said the company’s group sales director, Neil Godfrey.

Chan joined GAC in 1984 as marketing manager for the Greater China region, representing the company’s over 300 offices worldwide.

“Clarence is working closely with our new colleague, Jessie, and retains overall responsibility for the effective promotion of GAC’s global ship agency and related services to the shipping and trading communities in this important regional market,” Godfrey said.

He was referring to Jessie Gong, who was appointed marketing manager for the Greater China region earlier this year.

MAERSK, a leading global container line, is banking on its intra-Asian shipping business to be a major growth driver, prompting an analyst to see some “small but solid” signs of future growth in the global logistics market.

Owner of the Singapore-based Mercantile Cargo Consolidators Transport, the Danish firm Maersk plans to develop this company as a platform for expansion into the intra-Asian market. It said this will be larger than the routes between China, the US and Europe.

“We are beginning to see some small but solid indications of the future areas of growth in the world’s logistics market,” wrote Thomas Cullen in the UK-based provider of transport information, Transport Intelligence (Ti).

A recent World Bank report said that China is now growing at over seven per cent, owing to increased government spending and large levels of lending by banks to commercial enterprises. The bank also expects an increase in consumer spending, as the Chinese economy is shifting towards higher levels of domestic consumption from being export-driven.

And while China has run trade surpluses with the economies in the West, according to Dr Gerard Lyons, of the Standard Chartered Bank, it is running deficits with countries in the Asia-Pacific.

Cullen said the trans-Pacific and China-Europe shipping trades will “reduce and rebalance” while the intra Asia-Pacific routes and the trade lanes with Latin America are set to grow. He added that this leaves more questions on trade patterns in the western economies.

“However, the emerging structure of China and Asian trade,” Cullen said, “does lend support to a picture of more balanced trade flows based around large continental blocs.”